


"Five Gold Rings"

by farad



Series: Christmas Carols [1]
Category: Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 22:51:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/602955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/farad/pseuds/farad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>December 23</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Five Gold Rings"

**Author's Note:**

> Set the Christmas after "Obsession"; thanks to Huntersglenn for the beta. Thanks also to Zeke Black and her awesome Magnificent Seven Handbook, with transcripts, pictures of the clothes the boys wore, and every thing else, and the people at Daybook for their quick answers to my specific detail needs! All mistakes my very own.

 

_**"On the fifth day of Christmas,** _

_**my true love sent to me** _

_**Five golden rings,** _

_**Four calling birds,** _

_**Three French hens,** _

_**Two turtle doves,** _

_**And a partridge in a pear tree. "** _

 

\--from "The Twelve Days of Christmas", verse five;

the lyrics are probably French, dating from before 1780.

 

The morning of December 23rd was bright and cold. Clouds were gathering, Ezra could see them in the distance, hints of grey against the bright blue sky.

 

That didn't bother him, though. In truth, very little bothered him on December 23rd. It was one of the few days of the year that he actually rose early, as excited now as he had been when he was a boy.

 

_"We're business people, and we're the best at what we do. Now you go in there and put on your best suit. Business people make their profit for the year in the last nine days of it. We've got work to do."_

 

He stood in front of the mirror, tying his green and gold cravat. It was new, one he'd ordered just for the season. It went well with the greenish long coat and the honey-combed patterned vest. Gold accents gave the ensemble the holiday flair it needed. Tomorrow, the 24th, would be the red and gold ensemble, and Christmas Day itself would be the more somber purple.

 

_"It's all about setting the mood, dear boy. If you're festive, others will be too. And when people are festive, they're willing to buy. Wear gold and silver, and it will come to you."_

 

The cufflinks were gold, polished to a high sheen. With the cravat, he had the opportunity to wear his fine diamond and gold tie-tack. The diamond caught the sunlight, seeming to glitter, just as it had that day nine months earlier, when it had saved his life.

 

He stared at it in the mirror, thanking Lady Luck for returning it to him, the only bright spot in that otherwise horrid day. Or days. Or the rest of this damnable year.

 

He touched it again, the diamond cold under his fingers, as cold as the heart of the bitch who had tried to kill them.

 

The chill of it crept down his spine and he shivered – and shook it off. Today was not a day to think on her. Today was the start of the season, and he needed to be festive, to think only of the good things.

 

He pulled on his boots, rubbing at the newly polished toe of one, drew on his coat and shrugged it into place. He pulled at his right cuff, checked the draw on his arm rig then resettled the gun properly. He'd cleaned his hat the night before, brushing it as free of dust as he could. It settled perfectly into place.

 

Then he smiled into the mirror, checking the gleam of his gold tooth. Perfect.

 

As he turned to the door, he glanced through the window and down into the street in time to see the familiar dark shape trotting out of town. Chris, gone to his 'shack in the hills' as Buck would say.

 

_"There are always those who don't understand the rewards of the season. Stay clear of them – you'll see no profit from them, and most likely, they'll end up costing you."_

 

'Good riddance' drifted through his mind, carried on an spike of anger. Nothing had quite been the same since Chris' 'encounter' with Ella Gaines. Chris hadn't been the same.

 

But as quickly as it had come, the anger faded away, leaving a little sadness. Of all of them, Chris was the one who most needed the festivity of Christmas.

 

He shook his head, trying to cast away the troubling mood. They had enough of that the past nine months. Now was a time for something new, something better.

 

He opened the door and slipped into the hallway, locked his door behind him and tucked the key safely into his inner breast pocket. Downstairs, he heard voices and movement. It was just past noon, which could be the lunch crowd, but there was more noise than usual. It was, after all, December 23rd.

 

"Well, now, ain't you a sight?" a familiar voice called out, and Ezra grinned. Buck. Someone else who would share his love of the season, his love of the day. Someone else who would be thank that the year was coming to an end with all of them alive and, as far as possible, intact.

 

_"Pin your money on the happy ones, dear boy, the ones who laugh and tease. They'll help you earn your keep. Remember, it's cheaper to give them a little for what they help you reap."_

 

Ezra walked slowly down the stairs, pleased to see the decorations Inez had placed around the saloon. Poinsettias on the tables, a sagebrush wreath on the mirror behind the bar. She'd told him yesterday that the brandy he had ordered had arrived, so the holiday spirit was close at hand.

 

"Ezra!" JD called, and Ezra looked to where the young man sat with Nathan and Josiah.

 

"Gentlemen!" he called back as he made his way over to them. "Merry Christmas!"

 

"Little early for that," Josiah said, but he smiled.

 

With a start, Ezra realized it was the first one he'd seen in quite a while on the lined face. The memory of Josiah lifting Chris' still body from the dirt of Ella Gaine's yard flashed through his mind, the red of Chris' blood more clear now than the red of the decorations around him.

 

"You all right?" Nathan asked, drawing Ezra back. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

 

Ezra grinned then, and he reached into one coat pocket and pulled out two cigars. As he gave one to each of them, he said, "Thankfully, no ghosts, not this year. Instead, let us rejoice over our good fortune."

 

"Awful nice of you," Nathan said, nodding his appreciation for the cigar. "You surely have caught the Christmas spirit."

 

"The very best kind of spirit," Ezra said. "Peace on Earth, good will toward men."

 

"And women!" Buck added, joining them. He set a bottle of brandy on the table and a handful of shot glasses. "Inez said you wouldn't mind," he added, dropping into a chair beside JD.

 

Ezra turned toward the bar and tilted his hat toward Inez, who did look especially lovely.

 

"Where's Vin?" JD asked, watching as Buck filled the glasses and passed them around.

 

"Off hunting," Nathan answered, rolling his cigar between his hand and the table. "Nettie and Gloria are cooking turkeys for the Christmas dinner."

 

"Looking forward to that!" JD said, rubbing his hands on his thighs.

 

"Good to have something to look forward to," Josiah said. He held up his glass in a toast. "To the spirits of Christmas, not the ghosts."

 

"Amen," Nathan agreed, as the others laughed.

 

Ezra smiled, taking a slow sip of the fine liquor. He smiled wider as JD coughed on his and the others laughed and teased him.

 

It was just the five of them, right now, but that was all right. It was five of them. Vin would come along later, at least for a time. Chris . . . Chris would come back in his own good time.

 

They sat and talked and laughed, laughed a lot, and no one mentioned the past year other than in passing and as something they had all survived, a sentiment made all the closer because JD sat among them, the bullet hole in his belly healed. After a time, Ezra realized that they were all not saying the same thing: that in the next days, they would all find a way to check up on Chris.

 

He, too, realized that he had already built it into his own schedule; an afternoon ride out into the hills, exercise for his horse, the delivery of a bottle of Christmas spirits to one who had no other form of them.

 

In a while, Nathan returned to his clinic, then Josiah to his church. JD went to help Mrs. Potter with some deliveries, and Buck went out to talk to Vin, back from his wanderings, who had tied off his horse outside. Ezra wasn't lonely, though; other saloon regulars had moved to the table to take their places, drawn by the lure of brandy and cards.

 

The season was, indeed, well underway.

 

_"We're business people, and we're the best at what we do. We are the spirit of Christmas present. Never forget that, dear boy."_

 

During a break in the game, as Ezra looked at the gold and silver coins stacked carefully in front of him, he made a slight toast to his mother, knowing that wherever she was, she was beautiful and festive and spreading the joy of the season in her own special way. For a few seconds, he missed her.

 

Then Buck ambled over, Vin in tow, and something warmer settled in Ezra's belly.


End file.
